HLN comes out on top again this week with the highest weekly average in the Adults 25 -54 demographic during the 8PM and 10PM hours. They only won the 10PM timeslot once last week, but because special programming was not included in the averages, it was enough for them to claim the hour.

MSNBC had the highest rating during the 9PM hour , but was only using a 2 day average compared to the 5 day average that was used for CNN, FOX, and HLN. MSNBC’s special programming during the 9PM and 10PM hours on Thursday and Friday won the timeslots.

CNN didn’t have a great week. The high points were on Wednesday with Tom Foreman’s look at the best and worse of 2008 at 8PM and Larry King at 9PM with both programs winning their timeslots.

Blitzer Leads The Situation Room to No. 1 Among Younger Viewers in 2008

Throughout a record-breaking year for CNN, more viewers in the 25-54 demographic turned to CNN during the 5 p.m. hour than to any other cable news channel. Additionally, The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.,was No. 1 among 18-34 and 18-49 viewers in 2008.

For the three hour block, The Situation Room attracted, on average, 81,000 viewers in the 18-34 demo, as compared to the 61,000 viewers who turned to Fox News and the 53,000 viewers who turned to MSNBC. In the 18-49 demo, an average 219,000 viewers watched The Situation Room versus 209,000 and 129,000 who turned to Fox News and MSNBC, respectively.

At 5 p.m., The Situation Room averaged 245,000 viewers in the 25-54 demographic, compared to the 243,000 for Fox News’ Election Headquarters and 197,000 for MSNBC’s Hardball. According to Nielsen data for the year, The Situation Room also beat its competitors in the 5 p.m. hour in the 18-49 demo with 213,000 viewers, versus Fox News’ 190,000 and MSNBC’s 146,000, as well as in the 18-34 demo with 77,000 viewers, compared with Fox News’ 57,000 and MSNBC’s 58,000.

“I attribute 2008’s ratings to The Situation Room’s incredibly hardworking, talented team who tirelessly wrote, booked, produced, directed, anchored and performed countless other tasks to craft the most comprehensive and fair newscast every weekday,” said Sam Feist, CNN’s political director. “Viewers trusted Wolf Blitzer and this team during 2008, and we promise to not disappoint in 2009 and beyond.”

The transition team is impressed with the combination of Gupta's past government experience, as a White House fellow and a special advisor to then-first lady Hillary Clinton, along with his medical career as a neurosurgeon and his communication skills, the transition source said.

Gupta has declined comment on the matter.

CNN released a statement saying, "Since first learning that Dr. Gupta was under consideration for the surgeon general position, CNN has made sure that his on-air reporting has been on heath and wellness matters and not on health-care policy or any matters involving the new administration."

Here is the video clip from John King's report that aired on The Situation Room:

The offer followed a two-hour Chicago meeting in November with Obama, who said that Gupta could be the highest-profile surgeon general in history and would have an expanded role in providing health policy advice, the sources said. Gupta later spoke with Tom Daschle, Obama's White House health czar and nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, and other advisers to the president-elect.

The Michigan-born son of parents who were born in India, Gupta has always been drawn to health policy. He was a White House fellow in the late 1990s, writing speeches and crafting policy for Hillary Clinton. His appointment would give the administration a prominent official of South Asian descent and a skilled television spokesman.

Gupta, who hosts "House Call" on CNN, has discussed the job offer with his bosses at CBS and CNN to make sure he could be released from his contractual obligations, the sources said.

His role as journalist and physician have sometimes overlapped. During the 2003 Iraq invasion, Gupta was embedded with a Navy unit called Devil Docs and, while covering its mission, performed brain surgery five times, the first of which was on a 2-year-old Iraqi boy.

Gupta's only hesitation in taking the post is said to involve the financial impact on his pregnant wife and two children if he gives up his lucrative medical and journalistic careers. But he is expected to accept the position within days.

5 comments:

Anonymous
said...

CNN had better fix the 7, 8 and 9pm hours likeright now. No more talking heads and get ridof the pundits. No one cares about the left vs rightjunk that is too much of a fixture on CNN. LouDobbs should have been gone like yesterday.Campbell Brown is just not working. Along withprograms airing before all 3 hours of TSR withWolf. I don't know what Larry King is these days,Memo to CNN : why are you having so manypeople from the Bush administration to givetheir take on things. Wake up no one in theirright mind believes anything that comes out ofthe mouth of the Bush administration. How aboutdoing stories that people maybe have not heardof all day long and original content. People donot care about Burris, Richardson and the Repubswho come on CNN to just try to make trouble forObama. It is too much talk that means nothing onCNN these day. The only 2 programs worth anything are 360 and TSR. While you are at itfix American Morn, and get rid of the single anchor format. CNN had better get some 30 &20 somethings in prime time. Maybe giving Campbell co-hosts like Erica Hill , and otherfemale journalists at CNN will save the hour.Campbell Brown will not win the hour aloneand that program needs to be revamped badly.360 works because it is the only program likethat for the hour. So why not create somethingother than what is on cable news for the 7, 8and 9 pm hours. I strongly believe the reasonwhy Maddow is a hit is because for the 9m hourthe programs on the other 24/7 are just plainbad and she comes off as bright and informed.Also move Showbiz to 9 and get rid of LouDobbs. Dobbs and Brown will not get youratings victories . Take a look at the ratingsfor the last the months of 2008. Dobbs andBrown have been sinking for quite some time.Please do not let things hit rock bottom.

I just think CNN should get rid of Lou Dobbs and give his time slot to JACK CAFFERTY, who deserves his own show right after The Situation Room! Cafferty is such a great commentator that a daily full-hour CAFFERTY FILE at 7pm ET would be great to watch.

I agree with Jack Cafferty, the man is real andtells it like it is. Enough Lou Dobbs already,having him on 7 days a week is just awful.CNN will be fine if it just stops trying to belike FNC. The is a joke making the rounds that Murdoch must have bought a ton ofTWX stock because CNN is no different thanFNC these days.

There was so much hope for tv journalismwhen Jon Stewart went on Crossfire and putCNN on the hot seat for being a part of theproblem. Jon Klein canceled Crossfire andit seemed that CNN would get away fromthat type of program. Only now we are inpundit overload. Instead of losing journalists,how about cutting the pundit jobs. They serveno purpose.